Philadelphia 76ers vs New Orleans Pelicans Preview

The Philadelphia 76ers look to start the new year off with a win as they host the New Orleans Pelicans.

In their last time out, the Sixers cruised to a 115-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks in large part to an impressive showing from Joel Embiid.

The Process recorded his fifth triple-double of his career and first of the season, scoring 16 points while dishing out 10 assists and grabbing 13 boards. Tobias Harris led the Eastern side in scoring with 23 points, with Shake Milton and De'Anthony Melton trailing behind with 18 and 17 points respectively.

One note about their win on New Year's Eve was that Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, and PJ Tucker were all absent from the court, a pattern that is unlikely to repeat as only Embiid finds himself on the injury report, listed as questionable for Monday's match.

With a little over half of the season remaining, Philadelphia finds themselves nestled in the fifth seed, with plenty of opportunities to climb in the conference standings in the months to come.

On the other side of the ticket sits the New Orleans Pelicans, who are coming into Monday's match off of a 101-116 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Zion Williamson led the Pelicans in scoring with 20 points, which wasn't enough to suppress Ja Morant's 32-point outing.

Brandon Ingram, E.J. Liddell, Larry Nance Jr., and Dereon Seabron are all listed as out for the game on Monday night. The four didn't feature in New Orleans' 127-116 win over Philadelphia last week, where former Lehigh University guard CJ McCollum went off, scoring 42 points on 65 percent shooting.

The match between the Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.

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